Promise of 24-hour power on Diwali goes unfulfilled in UP

Lucknow: Lucknow Electricity Supply Administration failed to ensure 24-hour power supply as promised in all localities of Lucknow on Diwali. Local faults and technical problems led to power outages in several places despite maintenance work on various sub-stations ahead of the festival.

The control room set up by Lucknow Electricity Supply Administration received 18 complaints of interruptions in power supply on Sunday and Monday.

More than 10,000 residents of Gomtinagar Extension went without power supply for nearly five hours on Diwali day and on Monday. It was the fault in the cables supplying power to the area which led to disruption on the festival day. The day after, however, Lesa clamped a shutdown to resolve the problem.

Disruption in supply due to excess load was a big reason various localities faced power cut.

Aashiana and LDA Colony on Kanpur Road faced short power cuts at least twice on the day of Diwali.

Nishatganj faced a half an hour power cut on Diwali day. "Next day, power was cut for an hour," said resident Ashok Verma.

A transformer fault in Rajajipuram led to sudden power cut on the festival day but supply was restored shortly. "We heard the transformer blast but the supply resumed on its own," said resident Om Prakash Sharma.

“To save the environment and to fight climate change, my government has planned a major campaign. By 2022, we want to generate 175 GW of renewable energy. In the last three years, we have already achieved 60 GW or around one-third of this target,” he said.